


Duty to tribe

by spiderfire



Category: Werewolf: The Apocalypse
Genre: Duty, Family, Kinfolk, M/M, Past Violence, black furies, off screen dubcon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2016-12-16
Packaged: 2018-09-09 01:39:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8870770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spiderfire/pseuds/spiderfire
Summary: Eric Jensen is the proprietor of a trendy cafe, raising his three kids as a single dad, and trying to have relationship with his boyfriend, Aaron. He is also kinfolk to the Black Furies.  I'll give you one guess as to what is the hardest part of his life.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [coaldustcanary](https://archiveofourown.org/users/coaldustcanary/gifts).



Half Moon Café was on Washington Avenue, a wide, heavily trafficked street that bordered the wooded expanse of GW Park. Across the street from the park, two and three level, mixed-use buildings lined the street. Half Moon Café had claimed the section of the sidewalk in front of its plate glass windows. Small tables and metal chairs were nestled between potted trees. Inside, vining plants hung from the ceiling and their dangling tendrils naturally divided the space into smaller more intimate sections. The furniture was modern-looking light-colored wood and wicker. The menu offered organic sandwiches and a wide variety of coffee concoctions. 

Usually, its proprietor, Eric Jensen, could be found behind the counter, filling orders and chatting with the clientele, but not now. Now, Eric was in his condo above the café, trying to get his three kids into bed. 

“Sarah!” he called. “Get out of the shower. Rachel needs a turn.” 

“Can I take a bath daddy?” Rachel asked from her room. 

“It’s too late. Just take a shower. We’ll take a… Oh, for god’s sake, David!” Eric exclaimed as the baby, who was not yet two, launched a shower of piss into the air as Eric tried to wrestle a diaper onto him. 

Behind him, he heard Aaron laugh. “Need some help?” the other man said. Aaron opened the box of baby wipes and held it out to Eric. 

With a sigh, Eric took it. “Can you make sure that Sarah got all the soap out of her hair?” he asked. 

Aaron said, “Gladly.” Aaron did a little pirouette on his way to the bathroom. Eric watched him fondly. Aaron was gorgeous. He had richly pigmented dark brown skin that almost seemed to glow back with tones of red. In a few hours, Eric hoped to be running his own hands, which were much lighter with undertones that bordered on green, along the athletic curves Aaron’s body. Eric loved the color contrast of their skins. He loved that Aaron was always so alive, so upbeat. He loved that Eric made him laugh. 

Aaron paused outside the bathroom door. “Sarah – can I come check your hair?” he said. 

Eric turned back to the baby on the changing table when Aaron disappeared into the bathroom. David looked inordinately pleased with himself now that he had peed all over his pajamas. Eric started to peel the wet clothes off the baby. 

He had just gotten David stripped and wiped off when the doorbell rang. “Aaron!” he called out. “Can you…” 

Aaron did not reply. A naked Sarah streaked across the hallway from her bathroom to her bedroom and Aaron heard the shower turn on again. Rachel must have gone into the bathroom while Eric had been focused on the baby.

Except for the fetish necklace that Eric never removed, David was naked. Oh well. Whoever was at the door could just be scandalized. “Coming!” he called as he scooped up the toddler and settled him on his hip. “No peeing on me,” he admonished David. David giggled in reply, gripping Eric’s shoulder with his chubby fists. 

Eric opened the door. Standing in the hallway, tapping her foot with impatience, was Aunt Angelica. In her fifties, with a mane of steel gray hair, olive skin and shoulders broader than Eric’s, she was an imposing presence. “Oh,” he said, stepping aside so the older woman could enter. 

Angelica swept into his apartment and looked around, her face impassive. Eric knew he was being judged and found lacking. She looked at the baby and shook her head. “He’s an ugly little thing, isn’t he?”

Eric looked at the baby. David was bald, completely bald, without eyebrows or eyelashes. The kid had skin that was so pale he was pink and his eyes had a distinctly yellow tinge, but other than that, he seemed pretty normal. 

David started to squirm in Eric’s, grasp. “Down!” David demanded. “Daddy. Down!” Eric shifted David so he was holding onto him with two hands and walked back over to the changing table. “What do you need?” he asked Angelica as he put the baby down. David arched and started to roll over, but Eric distracted him with a toy. 

“I need to talk to you about…” Angelica began. 

“Who was it?” Aaron asked, walking into the room. “Oh,” he said, coming to an abrupt stop as he caught site of Angelica. 

Eric looked between the two of them. Awkwardly he said, “Aaron, this is my aunt, Angelica. Aunt, this is Aaron.” 

Angelica looked Aaron over with pursed her lips. “Eric,” she said, turning her attention back to him. “We need to talk.” 

Eric glanced at Aaron. “Can you finish up bedtime?” he asked. Aaron looked at David and Eric could see the uncertainty in his eyes. Eric knew this was a big ask. While Aaron gladly helped with the girls, Aaron interacted with David as little as possible. Eric did not think that Aaron even realized he was doing it. “I’ll make it up to you, later,” Eric said with a smile that felt forced. 

Aaron looked between Eric and the older woman. “Uh,” he said. “Sure.” 

“Thanks,” Eric said, handing off the baby to Aaron. Aaron stepped up and put his hand on David’s chest. “We got this, little man,” he said, putting on a game face and brandishing a diaper. David laughed and grabbed at the diaper. 

Eric watched Aaron for a moment, admiring him. He knew Aaron found the baby disquieting. Tonight though, the baby’s strangeness, except for his quirky sense of humor, was not so pronounced. 

He turned to Angelica. “How about we go over to the park?” he suggested. 

Sarah, now dressed in pajamas, came into the room with a hairbrush in her hand. She too came to an abrupt stop when she saw Angelica. “Great-aunt,” she said cautiously. 

Angelica looked over the girl. Sarah was ten and she had grown several inches since Angelica had last seen her. Sarah shared the olive skin tone and dark hair of her father and great-aunt. Angelica nodded at the girl. “You are growing up, Rachel,” she said. 

“I’m…” Sarah started to say, but Eric glared at her and she did not finish. “Yes, mam,” she said. 

“Eric?” Angelica said, pulling open the door. 

Eric grabbed his coat from the coat tree by the door and followed his aunt out. 

**

The sun was setting as they crossed the street and walked into the park. Over the years, Eric had learned that conversations with the garou almost always went better outdoors, surrounded by grass and trees. 

The sky was a brilliant orange and the moon was a thin sliver low on the horizon. Angelica murmured, “under the moon of the priestess” under her breath. Eric recognized that as a line from a longer song that his mother had sung to his brother and him as a lullaby when they were small. 

The park was laced with wide trails that had regularly spaced light posts. They walked along one such path that meandered into a wooded section. The lights were just flickering on. After they had walked far enough that the sound of the cars had become muffled, Angelica spoke. “Who was that man? Some sort of nanny?” 

Eric swallowed. This is not the way he had wanted to tell his aunt about Aaron. “He’s my boyfriend,” Eric said, trying to sound braver than he felt. 

Angelica sneered, “He’s not kin, is he?” 

“No,” Eric said. He had dated kin before. With Aaron, it was a relief to have a part of his life that was not consumed with garou and their politics. 

Angelica snorted with disgust. 

“I don’t care,” Eric said. “He makes me laugh. He loves the girls and they love him.” 

“But not the mule pup,” Angelica observed. “I could smell the fear coming off him as we left.” 

“No,” Eric admitted. 

“Get rid of him,” Angelica told him. “Those girls may be just kin, but they are pureblood Furies. I won’t have them being raised by some ape. How can you instruct them in our ways with him around? And the mule. If the fetish comes off and little welp shifts? What then? Even a baby is dangerous in crinos. You know that.” 

Eric stuffed his hands in his pockets angrily. “If you are so worried about David shifting,” he said, “you should take him away from me too. Being kin won’t protect me and it won’t protect the girls. It didn’t protect my mother, did it?” 

Angelica growled at him, low. He had crossed a line. He knew that she could make him get rid of Aaron, if it came to that. He would hold on as long as he could. “That is not why I came here,” she said, abruptly. “Do your duty to your tribe and why should I care who you bed?” 

Stiffly Eric said, “I always do my duty to the tribe.” 

After a moment, Angelica conceded, “You do. And you do it well. That is why I am here. Lissa Andrews was killed. I’m bringing you her daughter to raise.” 

Eric blinked. “Oh,” he said. 

“I’ll be back in a few days,” Angelica said. “Once the funeral rites are complete.” 

“Alright” Eric said, seeing no other options. 

“I’ll see you then,” Angelica said, turning to walk off the path and into the surrounding woods. Before she disappeared into the trees Eric said, “Wait.” 

Angelica looked back. “What?” 

“What’s the girl’s name?”

“Cally,” Angelica said. 

“And how old is she?”

“Four.” 

Eric thought back five years. He remembered Lissa Andrews. Each month for a nearly half a year he had been summoned to a ratty motel out in the sticks. Lissa Andrews hadn’t been much for fanfare. She had shoved him to the bed and ridden him, her hands cold on his chest, with a look of distaste curled around her lips. 

At least most of the ones before her – the mothers of Sarah and Rachel, as well as the others – had been halfway considerate lovers. But after word got out that he sired daughters, and handsome purebred daughters at that, Furies far and wide had wanted him. 

“She’s kin?” he asked. 

“Yes.” 

“When are you going to bring her?”

“Two days,” Angelica said. “Three at most.”

“I understand,” he said, already thinking about how he was going to tell the girls.

“And you really should get rid of the ape,” Angelica said before she disappeared into the woods. 

***

The path led to a small clearing, with a view of the city lights. Eric stood in the clearing, watching the sky turn from red to black. He thought over the conversation and, as he stood there, the emotional wall he had built up crumbled. He hated the way his aunt took him for granted. He hated the way he just gave in, time and time again. He hated the way she was so dismissive of Aaron, who made him so happy. He stood staring at the sky through wet eyes until he stopped shaking. 

He retraced his path through the woods and back out to Washington Avenue. Crossing the street, he noticed that the café was busy. The tables were full and people were milling around. Ordinarily, after the kids were in bed, he would slip back down for an hour or two and send one of his barristas up to watch TV and be there if the kids woke up. It was a popular gig among the college kids who worked the counter in the evenings. However, tonight, he dragged his feet upstairs. He could reconcile the register tomorrow.

Eric always felt a little amazed every time he walked into his home. The apartment was nicely furnished with a flat screen TV and overstuffed leather chairs. The dining room table was glass and modern and the kitchen was full of stainless steel appliances. The café did well, but not well enough to afford a condo like this facing GW Park. No, the difference came from the Glasswalker don who used his café as a meeting place when it suited him, and from the don’s kin son, who had invested in the place back when Eric had been getting started. Why did the Furies have to be such bitches? The Glasswalkers, the Children, even the Bone Gnawers, were kind to him. 

Eric shut the door and took off his coat. Aaron emerged from the hall. “The kids are in bed,” he said. “Sarah’s reading, but David and Rachel are out.” 

“Thanks,” Eric said, checking his watch. Ten minutes to Rachel’s light’s out time. 

“What was that about?” Aaron asked. 

Eric flopped onto the couch. “I hate my family,” he said. 

Aaron sat down next to him and took his hand, intertwining their fingers. “Why?” 

Eric stared across the room, his aunt’s voice echoing in his head. Instead of answering the question, he said, “Another girl is coming to live with me. Cally. Cally Andrews.” 

“What?” Aaron said, sitting up and twisting so he could turn and look at Eric. “Why?” 

“She’s my daughter,” Eric said, still staring across the room. 

“For a gay man, you certainly get around with the ladies,” Aaron said with a deliberate lightness. Eric knew he was trying to make a joke, to cover his shock. Eric did not reply, and when the silence got uncomfortable, Aaron asked, “Just how many kids do you have?” 

Eric shook his head. He actually did not know. Sometimes they told him. Other times, he never heard a thing. “She’s four,” he said. 

Aaron was silent for a moment. “What’s going on, Eric?” Aaron asked, breaking the silence. “Why is this girl suddenly coming to live with you?” 

“Her mother died,” Eric said. 

“Oh,” Aaron said. “God. I’m sorry. Were you close?”

Eric again thought back to the last time he had seen Lissa. He squeezed Aaron’s hand. “No,” he said. 

“What happened?” Aaron asked. 

Eric had been taught some of the lore. He had seen garou in all their forms. He had once been allowed to watch as an elderly storyteller reenacted a battle. It had given him screaming nightmares for a week. The unbelievable amount of violence that was required to kill one of Gaia’s chosen made his stomach twist in horror. “I don’t know,” Eric said. “Aunt Angelica did not say.” 

Aaron stared at him. “Wait,” he said. “What is it with the women you date? Do they all die?” 

Eric looked at Aaron. Early in their relationship, almost a year ago, Aaron had overheard Sarah and Rachel playing with their dolls, telling a story about a girl whose mother had died and the girl went to live with their dad. Fascinated by the morbid nature of their play, Aaron had asked them about it. Eric had come into the room a few minutes later to find Aaron sitting on the floor with Sarah in his lap as Rachel told him about when her mommy’s friend had come to tell her that her mommy had died. Later that night, Aaron had lain next to him in bed, playing with the soft curls of his chest hair, and he had asked if the story was true. Eric had confirmed that it was. 

“I didn’t date them,” Eric said. 

“You just slept with them,” Aaron said. He pulled his hand away from Eric. 

“I guess,” Eric said. 

“You guess?” Aaron demanded. “You guess?”

“It’s over with them,” Eric said, reaching out for Aaron. Aaron did not let Eric take his hand. Eric dropped his hand in defeat. “It’s just you.” 

“What’s going on, Eric?” Aaron asked again. 

Eric did not say anything. 

“If you don’t tell me something,” Aaron said. “I am going to start making things up.” 

Eric looked at him. “I don’t want to lie to you,” he said, “but I just can’t tell you.” 

“I thought you trusted me,” Aaron said. Eric could hear the hurt in his voice. 

“You don’t know my family,” Eric said. 

“I know your kids,” Aaron said.

“Oh, Aaron.” Eric said. 

Aaron laughed. It sounded forced to Eric. “I got it,” Aaron said in a bright, brittle tone of voice. “Your aunt. She’s a, what do you call it? A Mafia don? Can women be dons? Donna? And all those chicks you sleep with are her hit men. Hit women. La femme Nikita. Les femmes Nikitas. She pimps your gorgeous ass out for payment. You don’t want me to know anything in case the Feds come.” 

Eric looked at Aaron, astonished. 

Aaron blinked and sat up. “Am I right?” he asked, startled. “I was just joking.” 

After a moment, Eric gathered his thoughts enough to play along, “Uh. One never says that. Not really.”

“You are not serious?” Aaron asked. 

Eric said, “And you don’t call them ‘don’ in the Greek organization. It’s ‘afentikó’.” 

Aaron sat up very straight, looking at Eric. “You really are serious?” he said. 

Eric swallowed and shook his head. “I told you. I can’t tell you.” 

“This is crazy,” Aaron said. “I guess that explains,” he gestured vaguely around the apartment. “I wondered how you could afford this. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the café sells tasty food, but not enough for…” 

Eric pulled his knees to his chest. It’s not like Aaron was that wrong. The Glasswalkers did use his café for backroom deals and a god-knows-what else. 

“Are you in danger?” Aaron asked. “What about the kids?” 

Eric shook his head. “Please stop asking.”

“But,” Aaron protested. 

“You don’t know my family,” Eric said, dying a little inside. “There are rules. Rules that they take very seriously.” As an afterthought, he added, “And there are the feds.”

Aaron stood and faced Eric, crossing his arms. Eric looked up, feeling helpless. “I told you,” Aaron said. “I told you about my father. I told you about…” 

“I know you did,” Eric said. “And…oh god. I want to tell you. I can’t.” 

Aaron turned away. “I don’t know why you won’t trust me,” he said, his voice cracking. “There is something seriously fucked up going on.” 

There was nothing that Eric wanted more than to tell him the whole sordid story. Of Angelica and his mother. Of his twin brother. Of the Furies and the secret war that raged all around him. But he knew the Litany. It had been drilled into him from before he could speak. “I do trust you,” is all he said. “It’s not my choice.” It sounded lame, even to him. He hugged his knees tightly. 

He was unsurprised when the door slammed shut minutes later. 

***

“Daddy?” 

Eric looked up. Sarah was standing in the hallway in her nightgown. Aaron had braided her wet hair so it would be wavy in the morning. 

“Daddy? Are you okay?” 

Eric realized his face was wet. Hastily scrubbing the tears away, he said, “Come here, honey. Let me give you a hug.” 

Sarah came over and sat next to him. “Why are you crying, daddy?” 

“How would you like another sister?” he said, hoping the question would distract her. 

It did. “Really?” she asked. “A baby, like David??” 

“No,” he said. “Her name is Cally. She’s four.” 

“Did her mommy die?” Sarah asked. 

“Yes,” he said. 

“Are you her father?” 

Again, Eric remembered that night with Lissa Andrews and sneer on her face as he looked up at her. 

“Daddy?” Sarah said. 

He looked at Sarah. 

“Are you her daddy?” Sarah asked again. 

He looked at his daughter. She looked like his mother. He supposed that his pedigree had some virtues. That his daughters looked like him and not like their mothers was one of them. He reached out to brush a wisp of hair that had escaped from Aaron’s braids behind Sarah’s ear. He nodded. 

“When is she coming?” she asked

“A couple days.” 

“Where’s her room going to be?” 

Eric shrugged. The condo was a big one, with four bedrooms. Each of the kids had their own room. That was going to have to change. “I don’t know,” he said softly. “Maybe Rachel will share.” 

“Okay,” Sarah said. 

“She’s going to need a friend when she gets here. She’s going to be sad because of her mommy. Will you help her out?” 

Sarah looked at him, her eyes wide and she nodded. “Sure, Daddy.” 

Eric wrapped his arm around her shoulders and hugged her to his side. “That’s my girl.” 

After Eric got her settled back into bed, he picked up his phone. He held it in his hand and stared at the keypad. He thought about dialing Aaron. He didn’t know what he would say. 

Eventually he dialed Kevin’s number. The phone rang for a while and went to voicemail. Eric left a message, asking Kevin to call him in the morning and then he went to bed, alone. 

***

When Eric’s alarm rang, he groaned and banged the snooze button. He had tossed and turned half the night, thinking about the mess he’d made of things. What was he going to do with Aaron? How could he possibly explain this? Why couldn’t Aaron have left well enough alone? Should he just dump Aaron like his aunt wanted? But Aaron made him happy, and the girls loved him. Most men were gone the instant they heard he was raising three kids on his own. Aaron had taken it all in stride. 

When the alarm rang again, he rolled out of bed, went into the girls’ rooms and turned on the lights. Then he got in the shower. He tried not to think of his aunt and her demands. He tried not to think about the intractable problem of Aaron. He didn’t want to ruin the day brooding over things he could not change the way he had wrecked his night, but he could not keep his mind off it. He knew the law. He hadn’t lifted the Veil. It would be okay, he told himself. But then he heard Kevin’s voice in his head. His brother would say: what if you made a mistake? What if Aaron figured it out? Was Eric willing to risk the consequences of that? As kin of an ancient line, Eric had some measure of protection from the spirit world, but Aaron was defenseless. What if some Wyrm tainted creature found Aaron and used his knowledge to hurt Aaron? Or worse yet, get at the girls? 

Eric pushed Kevin’s voice from his mind. He didn’t want to think about all of that. He figured he could teach the kids their history and Aaron need never know that the stories were not just stories. When the girls were old enough, his aunt could take them for their initiation. That was just a year or two off for Sarah. After that, they’d know the truth, and they’d understand the litany and they’d understand about Aaron. The rest? He was already dependent on the garou, on his aunt and brother, and the others who frequented his café, for protection. How was this any different? 

By the time he got out of the shower, Sarah was in Rachel’s room, still in her pajamas, excitedly telling her about their new sister. He stood in the door and pressed his lips together. “Sarah Jensen,” he said to the older girl. “Go get dressed.” 

Sarah spun out of the room. Rachel looked up at him. “Is it true Daddy?” 

“Yes,” he said. “Hands up!” 

Rachel held up her hands and he pulled her nightshirt off. “And she is going to be in my room?” 

“Is that okay with you?” he asked. 

Rachel jumped up and down, squealing. 

“I guess that is a yes,” he said, turning to the closet and pulling out a dress. “Fairies, today?” he asked. 

She squealed again, her voice becoming an even higher pitch. “It’s clean!” 

He laughed at her as he took it off the hanger and handed it to her. “Purple leggings,” she insisted. 

“Of course,” he said, finding them in the drawer. 

“Can we have bunk beds?” Rachel asked. “I can be on top, because I am six and you have to be six to sleep in the top bunk.” 

“Who told you that?” 

“Karen. She has a bunk bed and her little brother sleeps on the bottom.” 

“Well, how about we wait until Cally gets here and we can see what she wants. Okay?” 

“Okay,” Rachel agreed. 

“Daddy,” Sarah said from the door, “Will you do my hair?” 

He looked up. Sarah had pulled out Aaron’s braids and her entire head was a giant puffy frizz. “Uh. Sure.” 

He got the girls eating cereal before David started calling from his room, “Daddy! Daddeeee! Potty! Potty!” Somehow, half an hour later, David was dressed and picking Cheerios off the tray of his stroller, and the girls had their backpacks on with their lunches inside. 

They walked together to the girls’ elementary school and then he took David to the old woman who did daycare for him. She was kin too, but was not sure who claimed her. Half the city’s garou called her “grandma”, regardless of tribe. 

As he was walking back to the café, Kevin appeared beside him. 

Eric jumped. “God, I hate it when you do that.” 

Kevin laughed. “Sorry. I was waiting to catch you alone.”

“You didn’t have to. The kids love it when you come by.”

“I’d’ve gotten in the way,” Kevin said. “You have your morning routine down to a science.” 

“I guess,” Eric agreed. He looked Kevin over. It was like looking in a mirror. “You look thin,” he said to his brother. 

Kevin shrugged, but did not explain. Eric imagined he had been off in the woods, hunting for his dinner. Or maybe rattling bones and chanting and fasting, in preparation for some ceremony. The Children of Gaia, his brother’s adopted tribe after the Furies had thrown him out, seemed to have a lot of ceremonies. Eric really had no idea what the garou did when among themselves. “So, what’s up?” Kevin asked. 

“Oh, it’s Aunt Angelica,” Eric said. 

“Does she want your stud services again?” 

Eric wrinkled his nose. “No. We seem to be past that,” he said. 

“Then what now?” 

“She dropped by my house and met Aaron. You remember Aaron?” 

“Chinese guy. With glasses. He’s Walker kin, but doesn’t know it.” 

“Oh god, no. That was Tom. He was ages ago.” 

“Oh,” Kevin said. “Maybe I should come by.” 

“Aaron is a massage therapist. He’s gorgeous.” Eric paused and then added with a wink, “He’s got very talented hands.” 

“If you say so,” Kevin said with a chuckle. “Let me guess. He’s not kin.” 

“Nope.” 

“And our dear Aunt had a hissy fit.” 

Eric nodded. 

Kevin sighed. They walked in silence for a few minutes. 

“That’s not the real problem,” Eric said after a few minutes.

Kevin looked him. 

“Aunt Angelica came by to tell me that she’s bringing me another girl, another of my daughters.” 

Kevin looked away. He said softly, “I heard that one of the warriors of the Center Ridge pack was killed.” 

Eric looked back at Kevin. “You knew Lissa Andrews?” 

Kevin shrugged. “By sight,” he said. 

Eric made a face. 

“I take it you did not like her,” Kevin said. 

Eric shook his head. 

“We are all poorer, when a warrior falls. No matter how disagreeable,” Kevin said. 

Eric did not reply. He knew Kevin was right, that the garou could ill-afford to loose any warrior. After a moment he said, “When I told Aaron about the girl, he started asking questions.”

“What did you tell him?” 

Eric shook his head. “Nothing. Aaron didn’t like that.” 

They came to a stop, outside the door to Café Half Moon and Kevin put his hand on Eric’s shoulder and looked him in the face. 

“I really love him,” Eric said quietly, meeting his brother’s eyes. “I’ve never loved anyone like this before.” 

“If you love him,” Kevin replied, “you won’t be able to keep this secret. Eventually something will happen. You are going to hurt him, sooner or later.”

Eric pulled away, his shoulders slumped. “I’ve done everything she has asked of me. Anything any of you have asked of me. Why can’t I have this?” 

Kevin shook his head. “You know how humans feel about us. You know how few of us there are. You know the consequences.” 

“I know. I know.” Eric said. “But…” 

“I know,” Kevin said. He put a hand on Eric’s shoulder and turned Eric back towards him. Eric let himself be guided back. Eric looked at Kevin. “I’ll tell you what,” Kevin said. “I will ask my pack and see if any of them have ideas.” 

Eric looked at his brother, feeling hopeless. “Thanks, Kev,” he said. 

Kevin grinned. “What are brothers for, hmm?”

Eric forced a smile. “Sure,” he said. He glanced at the café. The early shift was cleaning up from the commuter rush. “Want a cup?” 

Kevin nodded. “Sure,” he said. 

**

That afternoon, Aaron came around at his usual after-school time. The girls were watching an episode of My Little Pony, while David took a nap. Eric was prepping dinner in the kitchen. He put the knife he was using to chop onions down and turned toward Aaron. Aaron wrapped him in a hug. “Sorry about last night,” Aaron said. “I shouldn’t have pressed.” 

Eric let himself relax against Aaron and Aaron kneaded his back. “I’m sorry, too,” Eric said. “I just…” 

“Stop,” Aaron said. Eric pulled back a little to look at Aaron, meeting his brown eyes. “It’s okay.” Aaron said. “It really is.” 

Eric leaned his forehead against Aarons and shook his head slightly. 

“I’m not going to lie,” Aaron said. “I am worried about you. About the kids. There is clearly something going on that you aren’t telling me. But, if not asking those questions is the price of being with you, I’m okay with that.” 

Eric blinked. “You sure?” he asked, allowing himself to feel a glimmer of hope. “It’s going to be hard.” 

“I’m sure,” Kevin said, putting his arms around Eric’s back. 

“It’s probably going to get worse before it gets better,” Eric said. “My aunt is not wild about us.” 

“Why?” Aaron asked. “Is it because I am black?”

Eric shook his head. “I doubt that has anything to do with it.” 

“Then what?” 

Eric shook his head again. “Honestly? The pool of acceptable people is pretty limited in her mind.” He paused a minute and then added, “And most of them are dogs.” 

Aaron laughed. “It’s that bad?” 

Eric nodded, smiling at his own joke. He turned back to his onions. “You have no idea.” 

Aaron put his arms around Eric from behind as Eric went back to chopping. He rested his chin on Eric’s shoulder. “So, what are we going to do?” Aaron asked. 

“We,” Eric said, “are going to tell her to put it where the sun doesn’t shine. Or at least, I am. Or at least I am going to try. I would suggest that maybe you ought to be in another hemisphere when I tell her.” 

Aaron laughed and tightened his arms around Eric. “I love you,” he said. 

Eric laughed as well. “I love you too,” he said. Silently, he prayed that when the moment came, he’d have the courage to go through with it. And when push came to shove, his aunt would allow it. 

**

A day later he got a text from his brother. “Incoming aunt,” it warned. Aaron had had a 5 o’clock and he was not back from work yet. Just as well. A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door. 

He dried off his hands and called to the girls in the other room. “Sarah, Rachel. Great-Aunt Angelica is here,” he said. 

“Is our sister coming too?” Sarah asked. She turned off the TV and they came over. 

“I don’t know,” Eric said. “Probably.” 

Eric opened the door with as much cheer as he could muster. There was Angelica. Clinging to her leg was a small, dirty girl with her thumb stuck in her mouth. Her resemblance to Sarah and Rachel was uncanny. “Hello,” he said, stepping aside so Angelica could enter. The girl followed, clinging tight to her great-aunt’s skirt. He dropped down on one knee and spoke softly, “Hello,” he said to the child. 

The girl looked up at Angelica and Angelica said, “Go ahead.” The girl looked back at him. 

“I’m Eric,” he said. “Your dad. Would you like to come live with me?” 

Wide eyed, the girl shook her head. “I want my mommy,” she said. 

Eric looked at his other two daughters. “This is Sarah,” Eric said, holding out his hand. “And this is Rachel. They are your sisters.” 

“My mom died too,” said Sarah. 

“And mine,” said Rachel. 

“They are heroes,” Sarah said. 

The girl looked up at Angelica again. “It’s true, Cally,” Angelica said. “Your mom is a hero too.” 

Cally slowly let go of Angelica’s skirts and took a step towards the other girls. Rachel said, “Do you want to see your room? You are going to share with me. We are going to get bunk beds, daddy said.” 

Sarah said, “Daddy did not say that!” 

Eric watched as the girls disappeared down the hallway, dragging little Cally along. Then he turned back to Angelica. “The girl will be fine,” she pronounced. 

Eric sighed. If only it were that easy. “Aunt,” he said. “I don’t mean any disrespect, but there is a lot you do not know about the kin.” Angelica had no idea what it took to raise these girls. 

Angelica perched herself on the arm of a chair and said, “Your brother came to talk to me.” 

“Oh?” Eric managed, his heart suddenly pounding. He did not really understand the garou social order, but from comments Kevin made, it seemed that he was on some vastly inferior level than his aunt. 

“He studies his auspice under a great Philodox of the Children. He spoke with passion and wisdom. Together, we crafted a compromise about you and your mate.” 

Eric found himself abruptly sitting down. Her words hit him like a punch in the face. He could hear the blood rushing through his veins. How dare they? What right did Kevin and Angelica have to talk about him? To plan his future for him? And that wasn’t the only issue. She was lying to him. 

“Here is the conflict,” she continued, oblivious to his whirling mind. “You are kin of the Black Furies. Your daughters will grow to be the mothers of the next generation of Gaia’s warriors and storytellers and tricksters. It is my hope that you, yourself may agree to sire more children. It does not matter what renown we earn in battle if there is no one to carry on our stories and continue the battles we leave unwon. There is no higher purpose, Eric, than the service you provide to your tribe.” 

Angelica’s words were now true-spoken Eric realized with amazement. She actually believed this. 

“For reasons that I do not understand, instead of choosing an equal partner on this journey, another kinfolk who could share this burden, you have chosen a human who would see us as monsters and who cannot share in the fullness of who you are and what you do.” 

He opened his mouth and shut it. What did his aunt know of love? So far as he knew, she had never married. She had never even had a lover. What could he say that would convince her? 

“But then I remembered the tale of Running-Cloud. Do you know the story?” Angelica asked. 

“Uh,” Eric said, rummaging through his memory. His mind was whirling. The name sounded familiar but he did not remember the tale. His aunt was always referencing stories that he only half remembered. “She was wolf-born?” he guessed. 

Angelica inclined her head. “Wolf, but not kin,” she said. “The song is a long saga, which I can sing for you another time. But she gave aid to a pack of garou, adopting suckling cubs of the pack leader, nursing them with her own. There were many dangers she withstood protecting those cubs. By way of reward, she was adopted into the tribe. To this day, those who can claim the blood of Running-Cloud are renown for their devotion.” 

Eric nodded, trying to remember if he had heard the full story, or just heard the name mentioned. 

“This Aaron,” Angelica said. “Is he your chosen mate?”

“Uh,” Eric said. “I’m not sure. We haven’t gotten that far.” 

Angelica looked him over before saying, “Here is the compromise I offer you.” Aaron felt the falsehood of the words again. It occurred to him that maybe it came across that way because it was not Angelica’s compromise, but Kevin’s. “If you would marry him, commit to him for life, and he will commit to you and your children, then we will do the same. We will adopt him into the tribe. There is a fetish, the shamans tell me, that will lift the veil from his eyes so he can move among us as if he were born kin.” 

“Oh,” Eric said. 

His aunt frowned at him. “I thought you’d be pleased,” she said. 

What should he say? Isn’t that what he wanted? A way to keep Aaron in his life? But at what cost? “It’s a lot to think about,” he said, hesitantly. 

Angelica pressed her lips together. “That was not the response I was expecting.”

“I,” Eric began. Then he stopped. 

She frowned at him. 

“I have to talk to Aaron. This is a big step.”

After a moment, Angelica nodded. “That would be prudent,” she said. 

Eric sat there, trying to imagine the path forward. After a moment, he realized that Angelica’s eyes were drilling into him and he stood up. “Shall we see how the kids are doing?”

He walked down the hallway, not waiting to see if she followed, and stopped outside Rachel’s door. The three girls were sitting together with the bin of Mega-Blocks dumped out on the floor. Rachel was showing Cally how to press two blocks together so they would stick. 

Angelica came up behind him. “This looks promising,” he said to her. 

Angelica nodded. 

In the other room, David woke from his nap and started calling to him. “Daddy! Daddy! Potty!” With a glance at his aunt, Eric pushed past her to pick up his son and take him to the toilet. David grinned at him, kicking his feet, as he peed. “David big boy,” he said. 

“Yes, yes you are,” Eric told him. 

When David was done, Eric picked him up and was abut to carry him into Rachel’s room, only to find Aaron in the door. “When did you get here?” Eric said, surprised. 

“Just now,” Aaron replied. 

Eric looked up and down the hall. Angelica was not visible. He turned back to Aaron and put his free arm around Aaron’s waist. “I am glad you are back,” he said. 

Aaron leaned over and kissed him. “I saw your Aunt leaving,” he said. 

“Yes,” Eric said. “She brought the girl. Would you like to meet Cally?” 

Aaron met his eyes. “I would love to,” he said. 

They walked into Rachel’s room where the girls were still gathered around the blocks. Rachel and Sarah were building some sort of house. Cally was making a tower, pressing block on top of block. 

Eric put David down. David toddled off, headed towards Rachel’s pile of stuffed animals. He and Aaron sat down on the rug, their legs touching, and played with the kids.

**Author's Note:**

> A huge thank you to Morbane and Arithanas for the beta. It is infinitely better, thanks to their feedback.


End file.
